A US-based ultra-Orthodox charity has raised over $130 million (some NIS 400 million) for Haredi yeshiva students in Israel, according to its website, in response to welfare and funding cuts imposed in response to draft evasion among military-age Haredi men.

Kerem Olam HaTorah announced on its website that it has raised over $130 million since a June 2024 High Court of Justice ruling that outlawed continued government funding to yeshiva students evading conscription.

Explaining the urgency of its cause, Kerem Olam HaTorah says it is trying to sustain 1,489 Haredi yeshivas and seminaries due to government funding cuts impacting over 350,000 yeshiva students and their families.

“The government turned its back, but the people never will,” the organization says on its website.

“With an average distribution of one million shekel every day, the need is relentless. We can’t slow down, we cannot afford to. Because we understand we are upholding the very purpose of our existence. We’re not waiting for a savior, we’re looking in the mirror,” Kerem Olam HaTorah states on its website, adding “Nothing has changed, but us. We stopped asking, ‘Who will step in?’ and started answering, ‘We will.'”

The group says its goal is to raise $12 million each month, but at present, the monthly donation rate comes in at........

© The Times of Israel